The CT Softball Blog

STAMFORD—When Marlie Noto’s family moved from Mystic to Darien a few years back, there was almost an expectation.

If you live in one of Connecticut’s premier lacrosse towns, chances are you’re going to pick up a stick.

Noto did exactly that.

For one season.

“I actually played lacrosse for a year,” Noto said. “I wasn’t a huge fan because I actually got in trouble for passing the ball too hard at someone and they got hurt. That’s kind of when I was like, ‘I don’t know. I kind of like softball because I can just be myself.’”

Funny how life works sometimes.

One decision. One season. One sport that just didn’t feel right.

Had things gone differently, Stamford High School might have been known for a standout lacrosse player instead of a catcher who verbally committed last week to one of the nation’s premier Division III programs. Instead, Noto found her way back to the softball diamond, where she’ll continue her academic and athletic career at Middlebury College.

For Noto, the decision wasn’t about chasing the highest level of softball possible.

It was about finding the right fit.

“Throughout my recruitment process, I always kind of told myself I wanted to go where I was wanted,” she said. “Even though I had Division I interest, when Middlebury offered me on July 1, it just felt right.”

The combination was hard to ignore.

A nationally respected academic institution. A softball program coming off a NESCAC championship. A chance to pursue her dream of entering the medical field without sacrificing the balance she hopes to find in college.

“I’m looking to go into the medical field after college,” Noto said. “I thought Division III would probably be a better fit for me. I really loved the people there, the coaches and the players. It just felt like home.”

It was also a mature decision.

Many recruits become so focused on the letters “Division I” that they lose sight of everything else. Noto never did.

“If I was looking to do something more like business or communications, I probably would’ve preferred Division I,” she said. “But I want to go into medicine. I’d rather join a program where I have really great coaches, where I’m going to continue to grow and love the sport instead of getting burnt out.”

Connecticut Impact coach Mike Santiago saw that maturity long before the recruiting process reached its conclusion.

In fact, his first impression of Noto wasn’t necessarily about her softball ability.

It was about her determination.

After an initial tryout, Santiago became busy traveling with his program and admits he simply forgot to call her back.

Many players would’ve moved on.

Noto picked up the phone.

“She called me and said she had a couple other offers from programs, but she was really hoping to hear back from us,” Santiago recalled. “I told her, ‘Marlie, I completely dropped the ball.’”

She came back for another tryout.

Santiago liked what he saw.

“She was extremely coachable,” he said. “There was something about Marlie. You could just see she wanted to be better.”

That was enough.

Despite making a significant jump in competition, Santiago placed her on Connecticut Impact’s top team.

“The first fall was difficult because it was such a huge jump,” Noto admitted. “I remember we flew down to Atlanta and I was suddenly facing pitchers committed to LSU. Just a few months before that I was playing on a local travel team.”

Instead of becoming overwhelmed, she went to work.

“I worked very hard on my swing over the winter and had a really successful summer because of all the work I put in.”

Santiago wasn’t surprised.

“While everybody says they work hard, Marlie actually does,” he said. “She’s one of those kids that really wants to be a great teammate and be successful. She’s got a great heart.”

Perhaps the most remarkable part of Noto’s story isn’t where she’s headed.

It’s how she got there.

She’ll arrive at Middlebury as a catcher.

A catcher who, until this summer, had never taken a formal catching lesson.

“I’ve actually never had a catching coach,” Noto said with a laugh. “I’m going to have my first catching lesson in August, which I feel like is kind of funny because that’s the position I’m committed to play in college.”

Instead, she learned by watching.

She watched college softball. She caught bullpen sessions for high-level pitchers like McKenna Sherry of Suffield Academy and Kaitlyn Dzialo of St. Joseph’s. She absorbed everything she could every time she put on the gear.

“That’s kind of my own catching lesson,” she said.

It worked.

So did the advice she gave herself throughout the recruiting process.

Go where you’re wanted.

For Noto, that place turned out to be Middlebury.

And it all traces back to a year spent trying a different sport in a town where almost everyone else was playing it.

Sometimes the right path isn’t the obvious one.

Sometimes it takes trying something else before discovering exactly where you belong.

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